About David Diop and the Poem
David Diop was a French West African Poet whose works are a part of Negritude Literature. Negritude Literature is a collection of literary works which are a voice of the Africans and aim at raising ‘ Black Consciousness ’ among Africa and its communities across the world.
It is a movement against colonialism, racism, and Eurocentrism. Diop’s works criticize and oppose colonialism. He envisioned the heroic past of his continent as a future of freedom for all humans.
‘ The Vultures ’ is one such poem of his which was written in the background of British colonization of Africa in the late Nineteenth Century. The poet had moved from his country to France when it was written.
From a distant place, he remembers the painful past of his country, when it was but a helpless victim in the hands of the invaders. He pens a poem based on a vivid retrospection of the events that had occurred during that time. With the dual purpose of explaining the adversities they had faced and installing hope in their subsequent generations.
The poem ’ The Vultures ’ by David Diop
In those days
When civilization kicked us in the face
When holy water slapped our cringing brows
The vultures built in the shadow of their talons
The bloodstained monument of tutelage.
In those days
There was painful laughter on the metallic hell of the
roads
And the monotonous rhythm of the paternoster
Drowned the howling on the plantations.
O the bitter memories of extorted kisses
Of promises broken at the point of a gun
Of foreigners who did not seem human
Who knew all the books but did not know love.
But we whose hands fertilize the womb of the earth
In spite of your songs of pride
In spite of the desolate villages of torn Africa
Hope was preserved in us as in a fortress
And from the mines of Swaziland to the factories of
Europe
Spring will be reborn under our bright steps.
Stanza-wise Summary of the Poem ‘ The Vultures ’
In the first stanza of ‘ The Vultures ’, the poet mentions the events that marked the period of British colonization of Africa. ‘ In those days ’ implies that all the accounts explained henceforth are a memory of the past.
He remembers it as a time when the invaders exerted dominance over the natives in the name of ‘ Civilisation ’. The Africans were forced to abandon their religion and convert to Christianity, through the anointment of holy water on their cringing brows i.e baptism.
The vultures are the British who, under their new regime, brought them under their tutilage or guardianship, the glory of which is stained by the blood of the natives.
The second stanza continues to describe the suffering of Africans and the injustice and cruelty of the British. There were guns and war machinery stationed all around, making the roads look like a metallic hell. Laughter was no longer an expression of joy, but a dying sound is borne out of pain.
The natives were forced into physical labor and thus languish on the plantations. But who could hear their cries? All that was heard was the singing of the paternoster or the Lord’s prayer of the Christians, which, to them, was monotonous.
The British extorted kisses from the native women, which is a direct example of sexual abuse. They made false promises in order to gain their trust and loyalty and then subdued them by pointing guns.
All these made the Africans wonder whether these foreigners were human or not, as they had not the slightest hint of kindness or mercy. They called themselves educated and civilized, but it is love that makes man, not books.
The Africans, on the other hand, were the children of their own soil, who were accustomed to farming and cultivating on their own fertile land.
The Poet concludes the poem by installing hope among the suppressed Africans and promising a renaissance. The British sang songs about the success of their bloody conquest and the villages in Africa were destroyed, emptied, and laid to waste.
Despite all these, the Africans never gave up hope. All of them, from those who were forced to work in their own country to the ones captured and enslaved in Europe, would persevere with bright steps to create a future free of colonization, so that spring or the children born to them could live happily and independently.
Themes in the Poem ‘ The Vultures ’
The Central theme
The main theme discussed here is the Cruelty and Injustice of Colonization. We can observe a detailed explanation of the unfair and selfish nature of invaders and the helplessness and agony of victims.
The introductory lines themselves denote the sudden injustice forced upon the Africans with the onset of colonization. They were forced to accept a foreign civilization and convert to an alien religion. They give an image of killing and bloodshed, and the widespread use of war weaponry.
On the other hand, the phrases drowned the howling on the plantations, bitter memories of extorted kisses, promises broken and songs of pride allude to the indifference shown by colonizers towards natives, and the unethical liberties they took with the common people. The result of colonization can only be destruction, as justified by the phrase desolate villages of torn Africa.
Other themes
Prejudice towards the culture of natives
‘Prejudice towards the culture of natives ’ is the first theme. Civilization kicked us in the face and who knew all the books are phrases that indicate that colonizers generally believe that they are a higher civilization than the natives, and discredit their culture as unscientific and crude. ‘ To civilize the natives ’ is a popular excuse used by colonizers for besieging any land.
Spread of Christianity by European colonizers
The next theme is the ‘ Spread of Christianity by European colonizers. ’ The phrases holy water slapped our cringing brows and the monotonous rhythm of the paternoster are evidence of the fact that in the process of subjugating the people they have attacked.
European invaders forced them to abandon their culture and beliefs and convert to Christianity. They had to embrace a religion that was alien to them, which is an allusion to cultural and social exploitation.
The pride of the British regarding their conquests
‘ The pride of the British regarding their conquests ’ is another theme. Examples are monument of tutelage and songs of pride, which say that the British perceived the expansion of their empire through colonization as a prospect of victory and glory. They considered that controlling the Africans was a monument built in their respect.
Slavery
The instances of slavery in the poem are howling on the plantations and mines of Swaziland to the factories of Europe. The Africans were taken as slaves and made to work in plantations, mines, and factories both in their own countries as well as Europe.
The rustic and agriculture-based lifestyle of the Africans
We whose hands fertilize the womb of the earth denotes the theme of the ‘ Rustic and agriculture-based lifestyle of the Africans ’ before they were colonized. Their beliefs and customs are closely related to the land in which they live, with which they share an emotional bonding that they refuse to part with.
Hope
The next theme is a popular concept in many literatures across the world, that is ‘ Hope ’. The line Hope was preserved in us as in a fortress implies that when placed in a challenging circumstance like colonization, or any challenge in life for that matter.
Hope is the ultimate weapon one could use to not give up and face the enemy. In this particular context, the Africans had hope still thriving within them which helped them to stand up to their oppressors and lay the foundation for a better future.
Spring
The last theme of the poem is the positive and promising nature of the ‘ Spring ’ season. This particular season in the year is characterized by beauty and freshness, as it is the time when the harsh winter is over and trees, plants, and flowers blossom again to bear fruits and fragrance.
Similarly, the concluding line of the poem, Spring will be reborn under our bright steps, indicates that when there is spring, there is rebirth and a new future for those who have fallen ( here, the Africans).
Line by Line Interpretation of the Poem ‘ The Vultures ’
In those days
When civilization kicked us in the face
When holy water slapped our cringing brows
The beginning line of the poem, In those days, implies that the subsequent accounts are events that have occurred in the past. Those days are the days when Africa was colonized by the British.
Civilization in the second line refers to the so-called ‘ Superior ’ education and culture of the British, which they used as an excuse to subjugate the natives. Kicked us in the face implies that the Africans were forced to accept their customs and ideologies against their will, abandoning their own beliefs in the process.
The third line denotes yet another change brought about by the British ; conversion to Christianity. Holy water here is the water that baptists use in churches to christen someone ; slapped our cringing brows implies that it was forcefully anointed on the Africans’ foreheads, to which they cringed as they were unwilling to embrace a new religion.
The vultures built in the shadow of their talons
The bloodstained monument of tutelage.
The fourth line takes on the subject of the British, referring to them as vultures, on account of their savagery. The shadow of their talons implies that Africa was already within their dark grip.
There they established complete tutelage or control over the natives, which they perceived as a monument or achievement, as said in the fifth line. This conquest of theirs was successful only because of the violence and slaughter of the Africans, and thus, the monument is stained by the natives’ blood. This line marks the end of the first stanza.
In those days
There was painful laughter on the metallic hell of the roads
The sixth line marks the beginning of the second stanza. Again, we see the phrase In those days used, so hereby the narration of past experiences is continued.
The next line is yet another description of the agony of British Rule, wherein the metallic hell of roads implies that guns and war machinery, which are made of metal, were present all across the country, giving it a hellish appearance. Painful laughter implies that the situation was so tormenting, even laughter was a painful experience.
And the monotonous rhythm of the paternoster
Drowned the howling on the plantations
The paternoster in the eighth line refers to the Lord’s prayer of the Christians, which was sung by the British like a rhythm to disperse the ideals of their religion. It felt monotonous to the African ear. The next line continues this sentence.
Howling on the plantations implies the pitiful cries of those who were forced to work in daunting conditions on the plantations. The cries were drowned, or not heard, for all that the British could notice was the chanting of their holy prayer.
O the bitter memories of extorted kisses
Of promises broken at the point of a gun
Bitter memories of extorted kisses in the tenth line imply that the British extorted or forcefully obtained kisses or sexual favors from the native women, which is a bitter memory for the Poet, as he cringes at remembering that agony.
The continued sentence, The British made promises to the Africans to gain their cooperation, only to be broken at the point of a gun; the promises were all false, as once the British had had their ways, the natives were again subjected to threats and violence.
Of foreigners who did not seem human
Who knew all the books but did not know love.
The foreigners in the twelfth line of the poem refer to the British, who, after all their merciless and unjust acts, no longer seemed human to the natives, as they had no humane qualities. The next line says that though they knew all the books i.e they were supposedly more knowledgeable than the natives, they did not know love, which, according to the Africans, was the primary quality in any human being.
But we whose hands fertilize the womb of the earth
The fourteenth line makes a positive statement about the Africans. They are people whose hands fertilize the womb of the earth i.e they are village folk who are accustomed to making a living out of their land since a majority of them are farmers. The womb of the earth implies that in their culture, they consider their land as their mother, with which they share a bond beyond that of just a geographical boundary.
In spite of your songs of pride
In spite of the desolate villages of torn Africa
Hope was preserved in us as in a fortress
The next line is directly addressed to the British. Songs of pride indicate the songs sung by them as a tribute to the success and glory of their invasion. The line that follows emphasizes the destruction it had caused; Africa has torn apart due to their warfare and exploitation, and the villages in it were looted and emptied of inhabitants, rendering those places desolate.
But despite having experienced such an assault, the Africans never gave up hope, as said in the seventeenth line; that particular uplifting emotion had been carefully preserved in their minds as if it were guarded in a fortress.
And from the mines of Swaziland to the factories of
Europe
Spring will be reborn under our bright steps.
The concluding lines of the poem are an attempt by the Poet to inspire hope among the Africans for a better future. They were enslaved and made to work both in the mines of Swaziland ( which is in their own country ) as well as abroad, in the factories of Europe.
Diop promises in the last line that spring ( the next generation of Africans ) will be reborn and lead happy lives untarnished by colonization, as a result of the bright steps of hope and renaissance their ancestors had taken.
Analysis of the Poem ‘ The Vultures ’
‘ The Vultures ’ is a poem that is written in free verse. It has no specific meter pattern or rhyme scheme. The speaker is the Poet himself, who narrates the incidents as if he were in a natural conversation.
It consists of nineteen lines divided into two stanzas, each of an unequal number of lines. The first stanza is five lines, whereas the second one is fourteen lines.
The opening line of the poem serves the purpose of establishing the timeline of the narration; In those days implies that the whole poem is an account of the past. But in the last line, the Poet suddenly switches to the future tense, using will be reborn.
The Poet first narrates some of the major incidents that occurred during Africa’s colonization by the British in the past, then uses it as a background against which he promises that despite such a loss, there is still a bright future ahead for those who had hope.
We can observe that the negative accounts mentioned throughout the poem form a foundation for the positive statement in the end. It is indeed a noteworthy transition from the darkness of colonization to the brightness of freedom.
The first stanza immediately establishes a tone of bitterness to the reader, with its violent images of vultures and blood. The mood here is one of destruction and tragedy, as the Africans had fallen prey to the cruelty of the British.
Note that the second and third lines begin with the word when articulating that the events that are mentioned mark the exact time when Africa was colonized. The third line takes the British as its subject, thereby speaking about what exactly they did during that period. The stanza ends with the word tutelage, thereby introducing the reader to the central theme – colonization.
The second stanza also starts with In those days, as if to justify again that the poem is a historical account. The next line begins with there was, indicating that such events had existed and occurred in the midst of British Rule.
The line after that begins with the conjunction and, which means the sentence is continued to mention another example, which continues to the ninth line, thereby making a whole statement that depicts the unfavorable changes brought about by the British.
The Poet begins the tenth line with O, which is an expression of fear and disgust at the helplessness of the Africans in the hands of their colonizers. The next two lines are again a continuation of that sentence with the conjunction of; these are also examples of bitter memories. The statement is concluded in the thirteenth line.
The poem takes a new turn from the next line, with the conjunction but. Here the Poet changes the flow of the poem from describing their suffering to the promising renaissance.
The repetitions of the phrase Despite in the following two lines establishes a question, and then the words spring and reborn in the concluding line render an optimistic answer to the situation. Note that this is the point where the poem changes into a hopeful and confident tone, from the earlier desolate mood.
Therefore, the poem has a varied but linear structure. The first stanza introduces the reader to the gruesome situation. Then in the second stanza, the poet lists several bitter instances to substantiate the claim of tutelage that was made in the first stanza.
In the end, there is a transition from desolation to hope, as the Poet says that despite being colonized by the British, the Africans’ spirit has not faded and will continue to persevere for freedom. The Poet is speaking on behalf of the Africans when the first-person narrative is present.
In the case of the second-person narrative, he is addressing the British. Overall, the poem challenges and condemns colonization and goads the victims to not give up and fight back.
To conclude, words in Diop’s poetry pierce through the web of the collective unconscious created by Whites. This greed to prosper and selfishness would always hamper the collective growth which is required in the growth of the exploited colonies.
Balance in nature would only be possible if every being flourishes in their gardens simultaneously and not with one fading away for the other.
Poetic Devices
Simile :
Hope was preserved in us as in a fortress – here, the preservation of hope in the mind is compared to that in a fortress.
Metaphor :
1) The vultures built in the shadow of their talons
The bloodstained monument of tutelage.
Here, vultures are used to refer to the British and their tutelage is termed as a monument.
2) metallic hell of the roads – The guns and weaponry of the British is termed as metallic hell.
3) Spring will be reborn – The children born to the Africans are compared to spring.
Personification :
1) When civilization kicked us in the face
When holy water slapped our cringing brows
Civilization is personified as kicking the Africans, and water is personified as slapping their brows.
2) Womb of the earth – Earth is personified like a mother because the Africans came from her womb.
Enjambment :
Some continuous lines in the poem are in fact the same sentence. They are:-
1) The vultures built in the shadow of their talons
The bloodstained monument of tutelage.
2) And the monotonous rhythm of the paternoster
Drowned the howling on the plantations.
